Method for forming bond pad stack for transistors

ABSTRACT

A method for forming bond pads on a semiconductor die includes forming a dielectric stack including a bottom and top dielectric layer having a contact hole therethrough over a bond pad. An outer edge of the bottom dielectric layer within the contact hole extends beyond an outer edge of the top dielectric layer to define a bond pad edge. A second metal layer on a first metal layer is deposited. A first photoresist layer is formed exclusively within the contact hole. The second metal layer is wet etched to recess the second metal layer from sidewalls of the bottom dielectric layer in the contact hole. A second photoresist layer is formed exclusively within the contact hole. The first metal layer is wet etched to recess the first metal layer from the top dielectric layer. The first metal layer extends over the bond pad edge onto the bottom dielectric layer.

FIELD

Disclosed embodiments relate generally to topside bond pad structuresthat connect to terminals of transistors, and methods for forming thesame.

BACKGROUND

Aluminum is a common material for semiconductor device (semiconductordie) bond pad metallization since its introduction to the semiconductorworld, including for discrete transistors and integrated circuits (IC).However, aluminum and high aluminum alloys quickly form a refractoryceramic oxide on the surface that requires special treatment to removebefore achieving successful soldering thereto. This step is applied tomost of the methods in making interconnections from the aluminum bondpad on the semiconductor die built on a semiconductor substrate, usuallyon single-crystal silicon.

The semiconductor die is packaged in a hermetically sealed case or anon-hermetic plastic capsule, with leads extending from bond pads on thechip to the leadframe. In an electroless nickel immersion gold (ENIG)Under Bump Metallization (UBM) process, the surface treatments startswith surface cleaning to remove any contaminant present on the aluminumbond pad surface, followed by an activation process to activate the bondpads for better nucleation for subsequent processing through themicro-etching of aluminum oxide.

A pre-plating process known as zincation is commonly used. During thezincation process, aluminum oxide is removed and is replaced with a thinlayer of zinc metal. The zinc protects the aluminum from re-oxidationuntil it is ready to be plated. Once this process is performed, thealuminum coated zinc can then be electrolessly plated with nickelfollowed by immersion gold.

SUMMARY

Disclosed embodiments describe methods for forming bond pad stacks on asemiconductor die including at least one transistor having a terminalconnected to a bond pad comprising a bond pad metal with a dielectricstack thereon having a contact hole on the bond pad. The dielectricstack includes a top dielectric layer on a bottom dielectric layer,wherein an outer edge of the bottom dielectric layer is within thecontact hole and extends beyond an outer edge of the top dielectriclayer to define an exposed bond pad area having a bond pad edge.

A second metal layer on a first metal layer is deposited on the bond padmetal. Wet metal etch processing using a first metal mask and a secondmetal mask having mask edges recessed from the top dielectric layerresults in recessing the second metal layer from sidewalls of the firstmetal layer, recessing the first metal layer from the top dielectriclayer, and the first metal layer extending over the bond pad edge ontothe bottom dielectric layer.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings, which are notnecessarily drawn to scale, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a flow chart that shows steps in an example method for formingfor forming bond pad stacks on a semiconductor die, according to anexample embodiment.

FIGS. 2A-F are cross-sectional diagrams showing processing progressionfor an example method of forming bond pad stacks on a semiconductor die,according to an example embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a depiction based a scanning electron microscope (SEM) of anexample completed bond pad stack having metal mask edges for metal mask1 and metal mask 2 added to show disclosed metal mask features andresulting post-etch metal layer edges.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Example embodiments are described with reference to the drawings,wherein like reference numerals are used to designate similar orequivalent elements. Illustrated ordering of acts or events should notbe considered as limiting, as some acts or events may occur in differentorder and/or concurrently with other acts or events. Furthermore, someillustrated acts or events may not be required to implement amethodology in accordance with this disclosure.

FIG. 1 is a flow chart that shows steps in an example method 100 forforming bond pad stacks on a semiconductor die that is describedtogether with FIGS. 2A-F which are cross-sectional diagrams showingprocessing progression for method 100 shown forming bond pad stacks on asemiconductor die comprising a power vertical metal oxide semiconductor(MOS) transistor, according to an example embodiment. Step 101 comprisesproviding a substrate including at least one transistor having a topsidesemiconductor surface, wherein a first terminal of the transistor isconnected to a bond pad comprising a bond pad metal on the topsidesemiconductor surface. The bond pad material can comprise aluminum (Al)in one embodiment. However, the bond pad material can comprise othermetals, such as copper, and can also comprise metal alloys.

The transistor can be a power MOS transistor having gate electrode on agate dielectric on a topside semiconductor surface of the substrate.More generally, the power transistor can include bipolars includingthyristors (pair of tightly coupled bipolar junction transistors alsocalled silicon controlled rectifiers), field effect transistors (FETs)including junction gate field-effect transistors (JFETs), andmetal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs) includingdouble-diffused metal-oxide-semiconductor (DMOS), High-electron-mobilitytransistors (HEMTs, such as a GaN HEMT), as well as Insulated GateBipolar Transistors (IGBTs). Example substrates include silicon and GaN,and the topside semiconductor surface can be the same as the substratematerial, or be different.

Step 102 comprises forming a dielectric stack including a bottomdielectric layer and a top dielectric layer on the bottom dielectriclayer having a contact hole through the dielectric stack over the bondpad. In one embodiment the bottom dielectric layer is a dielectric stackincluding silicon nitride layer on a tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS)derived silicon oxide layer on a silicon oxynitride layer, and thesecond dielectric layer is a polyimide layer thicker than the bottomdielectric layer. An outer edge of the bottom dielectric layer withinthe contact hole extends beyond an outer edge of the top dielectriclayer to define an exposed bond pad area having a bond pad edge.

FIG. 2A is a cross sectional depiction of a semiconductor die 200 havinga partially completed bond pad structure showing the substrate 205 witha topside semiconductor surface 206 having a dielectric stack thereonincluding a bottom dielectric layer 211 and a top dielectric layer 212having a contact hole 239 through the dielectric stack over the bond pad215.

The transistor is shown as an example n-channel vertical double diffusedMOS (VDMOS) power transistor 220 that has a first terminal shown as itsgate electrode 221 on a gate dielectric 229 connected to the bond pad215. The drain of transistor 220 is shown as 222 and the source as 223,with a source contact 223 a on the bottom side of the substrate 205.Transistor 220 includes p-body 224. Although not shown, the drain 222 isgenerally connected to a disclosed bond pad. An outer edge of the bottomdielectric layer 211 within the contact hole 239 can be seen to extendbeyond an outer edge of the top dielectric layer 212 to result in thebond pad 215 having an exposed bond pad area having a bond pad edge.

Step 103 a comprises depositing a first metal layer, and step 103 bcomprises depositing a second metal layer on the first metal layer. Thedepositing of the first metal layer and depositing the second metallayer can both comprise sputtering. However, plating may also be used todeposit either of these metal layers. FIG. 2B is a cross sectionaldepiction of the semiconductor die 230 having the partially completedbond pad structure showing a second metal layer 227 on a first metallayer 226 including over the bond pad 215. The first metal layer 226 cancomprise nickel (Ni). In the case the first metal layer 226 comprisesNi, the wet etchant for etching the first metal layer 226 can comprisenitric acid (HNO₃). The second metal layer 227 can comprise metalsincluding silver and gold.

Step 104 comprises forming a first photoresist layer exclusively withinthe contact hole 239. The mask used for this step is referred to hereinas metal mask 1. The metal mask 1 edge is on the bottom dielectric layer211 but within the top dielectric layer 212, and thus exclusively withinthe contact hole 239. See also FIG. 3 described below which shows adepiction based a scanning electron microscope (SEM) of an examplecompleted bond pad stack having metal mask edges added to show disclosedmetal mask features and resulting metal layer edges. Photolithographyusing metal mask 1 forms a photoresist pattern with the firstphotoresist layer exclusively within the contact hole 239. FIG. 2C is across sectional depiction of semiconductor die 240 having the partiallycompleted bond pad structure showing the first photoresist layer 233being exclusively within the contact hole 239 over the bond pad 215.

Step 105 comprises wet etching the second metal layer 227 to recess thesecond metal layer 227 from sidewalls of the bottom dielectric layer 211in the contact hole 239. The wet etchant for etching the second metallayer 227 in the case the second metal layer comprises Ag can compriseusing a mixture of sulfuric acid (H₂SO₄) and phosphoric acid (H₃PO₄)

FIG. 2D is a cross sectional depiction of the semiconductor die 250showing the partially completed bond pad structure after wet etching ofthe second metal layer 227 to recess the second metal layer 227 fromsidewalls of the bottom dielectric layer 211 in the contact hole 239.Step 106 comprises forming a second photoresist layer exclusively withinthe contact hole. The mask used for this step is referred to herein asmetal mask 2. The metal mask 2 edge is on the bottom dielectric layer211 but within the top dielectric layer 212, and is thus exclusivelywithin the contact hole 239. See also FIG. 3 described below which showsa depiction based on a SEM of an example completed bond pad stack havingmetal mask edges added to show disclosed metal mask features andresulting metal layer edges. Photolithography using metal mask 2 forms aphotoresist pattern with the second photoresist layer exclusively withinthe contact hole 239. FIG. 2E is a cross sectional depiction of thesemiconductor die 260 having the partially completed bond pad structureshowing the second photoresist layer 234 exclusively within the contacthole 239.

Step 107 comprises wet etching the first metal layer 226 to recess thefirst metal layer 226 from the top dielectric layer 212, wherein thefirst metal layer 226 extends over the bond pad edge onto the bottomdielectric layer 211. FIG. 2F is a cross sectional depiction of thesemiconductor die 270 having the completed bond pad structure showingthe first metal layer 226 recessed from the top dielectric layer 212 andextending over the bond pad edge of the bond pad 215 onto the bottomdielectric layer 211, and the second metal layer 227 on and within thearea of the first metal layer 226.

The process generally continues with adding backside metal, and thencontinues with dicing and packaging which generally follow. In oneembodiment, the packaging includes solder mediated stacking of two (2)NMOS power vertical power transistors (such as each being VDMOS powertransistor 220 in FIG. 2A) with a first vertical power transistor sourceside down on a leadframe that is on a printed circuit board (PCB), afirst metal clip on the drain side of the first vertical powertransistor connected to a lead of the leadframe, a second vertical powertransistor drain side down on the first metal clip, and a second metalclip on the source side of the second vertical power transistorconnected to a lead of the leadframe. Bond wire connection can be madefrom disclosed bond pads connected to the respective gate electrodes ofthe first vertical power transistor and second vertical power transistorto leads of the leadframe.

FIG. 3 is a depiction 300 based a SEM of an example completed bond padstack having metal mask edges added to show disclosed metal maskfeatures and resulting metal layer edges. For this description, thesecond metal layer is referred as Ag, and the first metal layer as Ni.The bottom dielectric layer 211 and top dielectric layer 212 are shown.The second metal edge shown as a broken line with the title “Ag stopline” is shown recessed from the edge of the bottom dielectric layer 211a distance that is determined by the metal mask 1 pattern edge shown onthe bottom dielectric layer 211 together with lateral etching of the Aglayer from the wet etch process. Surprisingly, different wet etch timesresulted in essentially the same Ag stop line position, until theetching time exceeded about 3 minutes which resulted in a rapid increaseof lateral etch rate leading to the Ag layer being etched to the centerof the bond pad, which is an unacceptable result. To move the Ag stopline to left or right, it was found the metal mask 1 edges can be moved.

Regarding metal mask 2 for etching the Ni layer, the mask pattern hasbeen found to determine the Ni layer resulting profile, so that theresulting profile where the resulting Ni layer edge stops can becontrolled by increasing or reducing the wet etching time. However, thegap shown between the edge of metal mask 1 and the top dielectric layer212 has been found to have a significant influence to the resulting Niprofile. The more space there is, the higher the lateral etching rate.Accordingly, based on the pattern size, it has been found to be possibleto set difference spaces to get a higher or lower etch rate, enablingbetter process control especially on smaller patterns.

Based on the test performed disclosed embodiments have been found tohelp avoid a defect known as step plating which can occur inconventional metal plating processes over Al bond pads where the Ni doesnot extend over all bond pad metal edges. Missing Ni along any of thebond pad edge generally results in wafer scrap due to exposed Al on thebond pad. A challenge in conventional metal plating processes is thedifficulty in controlling the Ni on the Al bond pads with gooduniformity, as different Ni profiles at different sidewall locationseven on one bond pad has been found to result. Metal sputter has beenfound to provide better uniformity control and essentially the same Niprofile for each die after wet etching.

Regarding bond pad size, due to mask tolerances to form disclosedrecesses with the contact hole over the bond pad and wet etching, theminimum bond pad size actually fabricated was about 1 mm by 0.7 mm.However, disclosed methods are suitable for bond pad sizes down to atleast to about 0.5 mm by 0.5 mm.

Disclosed embodiments can be used to form semiconductor die includingdiscrete devices such as power transistors or ICs that may integratedinto a variety of assembly flows to form a variety of different devicesand related products. The semiconductor die may include various elementstherein and/or layers thereon, including barrier layers, dielectriclayers, device structures, active elements and passive elementsincluding source regions, drain regions, bit lines, bases, emitters,collectors, conductive lines, conductive vias, etc. Moreover, thesemiconductor die can be formed from a variety of processes includingbipolar, CMOS, BiCMOS and MEMS.

Those skilled in the art to which this disclosure relates willappreciate that many other embodiments and variations of embodiments arepossible within the scope of the claimed invention, and furtheradditions, deletions, substitutions and modifications may be made to thedescribed embodiments without departing from the scope of thisdisclosure.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A method for forming bond pads on asemiconductor die including at least one transistor, comprising:providing a substrate including at least one transistor having a topsidesemiconductor surface, wherein a first terminal of said transistor isconnected to a bond pad comprising a bond pad metal on said topsidesemiconductor surface; forming a dielectric stack including a bottomdielectric layer and a top dielectric layer having a contact holethrough said dielectric stack over said bond pad, wherein an outer edgeof said bottom dielectric layer within said contact hole extends beyondan outer edge of said top dielectric layer to define an exposed bond padarea having a bond pad edge; depositing a first metal layer; depositinga second metal layer on said first metal layer; forming a firstphotoresist layer exclusively within said contact hole; wet etching saidsecond metal layer to recess said second metal layer from sidewalls ofsaid bottom dielectric layer in said contact hole; forming a secondphotoresist layer exclusively within said contact hole; and wet etchingsaid first metal layer to recess said first metal layer from said topdielectric layer, wherein said first metal layer extends over said bondpad edge onto said bottom dielectric layer.
 2. The method of claim 1,wherein said bond pad metal comprises aluminum and said first metallayer comprises nickel.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein said secondmetal layer comprises silver.
 4. The method of claim 3, wherein said wetetching said second metal layer comprises using a mixture of H₂SO₄ andH₃PO₄, and wherein said wet etching said first metal layer comprisesusing HNO₃.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein said depositing said firstmetal layer and said depositing said second metal layer both comprisesputtering.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein said transistor comprisesa vertical metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) power transistor.